K&L Gates has lost 10 Australian partners in 10 months, erasing three years’ growth. Hamilton Locke, Hall & Wilcox and Cooper Grace Ward pinched most after some local partners copped pay cuts of up to 30%. Global boss Stacy Ackermann insists the mood’s “incredibly positive”. Former partners reckon next March’s pay update will trigger another wave: AFR

⚖️ Banking: ASIC is suing Commonwealth Bank, alleging around 42,000 CommBiz business customers were overcharged about $8.5m in fees they were never told about. Customers were told they’d pay one fee per Direct Debit or Direct Credit, but CBA allegedly charged a second, undisclosed fee for moving money in or out of the customer’s own account. ASIC says the misleading terms date back to 2006, CBA had complaints from 2015, and an internal audit flagged the problem in 2016. CBA has already paid $26.4m in remediation, but that hasn’t stopped ASIC: ASIC

⚖️ AI: The Commonwealth Government will legislate Australian AI Standards for frontier AI model providers and create a new AI safety regulator with power to impose “significant penalties”. Details are thin, but providers will need to maintain security controls, manage serious risks, allow independent evaluation of their models, report incidents quickly to government and publish safety frameworks. Risk management obligations will likely mirror the draft Digital Duty of Care Bill, with regular risk assessments. Requiring models to be independently tested goes beyond current privacy and critical infrastructure rules, and may ruffle feathers with offshore AI giants: Lander & Rogers

⚖️ Regulatory: ASIC has released REP 846, and private credit funds are still falling short. Of the 12 retail funds ASIC reviewed, 10 had poorly designed target market determinations, which led to six interim stop orders. Marketing was another sore point, with some funds promising “24/7 access to your money” or calling their products “low risk”. ASIC also wants managers to disclose the borrower fees they keep from loans funded by investors. The law doesn’t strictly require it, but ASIC says investors can’t compare funds properly without it. Expect consultation on tougher guidance in early 2027, and enforcement action against funds that don’t improve: ASIC

Atlassian gave grads and senior managers the same AI tools and problem, and the grads made decisions 19% more accurately. AI chief Avani Prabhakar says it’s now doubling down on grad hiring and using AI to cut the two-year climb to promotion. This comes months after it axed 1,600 roles to fund AI: AFR

Former cop Beau Lamarre-Condon is on trial for murdering his ex Jesse Baird and Baird’s new partner Luke Davies in 2024. He’s pleaded not guilty, claiming both men died in struggles over his police gun. The court heard he texted Baird after their break-up that he “won’t exist”, which he says meant ignoring him in public. He also admitted to throwing Baird’s phone off a bridge after the deaths: ABC News

💵 Gilbert + Tobin and Mallesons are splitting more than A$2m in fees for the Australian leg of Anthropic’s IPO. G+T has banked US$900k (A$1.3m) so far, with Mallesons on US$520k (A$760k). It’s a repeat act, with the pair also advising on SpaceX’s local offer in June: Anthropic, Capital Brief

⚡ Rio Tinto has whittled bidders down to five for its $7bn energy infrastructure portfolio across the Pilbara and Canada. Only Blackstone and Ares want the lot, while Brookfield’s eyeing Canada and GIP and IFM are circling the WA assets: AFR

💰 Paladin Energy is tapping investors for $525m through a fully underwritten raising, priced at $7.80 a share, a 10.3% discount. A $50m SPP for retail holders sits on top. Corrs is advising, with Macquarie, Canaccord and RBC leading: AFR

BHP CFO Vandita Pant is stepping down after February’s half-year results. She’ll be replaced by ex-Macquarie banker Adrian Wood, who’s run BHP’s capital projects for three years. It’s an unusual pick, as Wood has never sat on the executive team, but it fits CEO Brandon Craig’s push to deliver major projects on budget: The Australian

Australia’s big four banks promised $29.4m in executive buyouts last financial year to poach talent from rivals, triple the previous four years combined. NAB led the pack, covering $10m to lure CFO Inder Singh from QBE. Westpac paid $7.83m to snag NAB’s former CFO Nathan Goonan: AFR

David Jones will close 19 of its 38 stores by year end, including its Perth flagship and seven in NSW, with thousands of jobs on the line. Meanwhile, Charter Hall copped a 43.3% first strike against its remuneration report, as investors baulked at a controversial $91m share package for 28 executives: AFR, The Australian

Nvidia has ousted founder and CEO Jensen Huang after reports of two affairs, including one with a woman suspected of spying for China. CFO Colette Kress is interim CEO and director Harvey Jones becomes the board’s first-ever chair. Shares fell 7.5%, wiping over US$300bn off its value: Bloomberg